8:45 a.m. – 4:30 p.m
October 27, 2016
Pryzbyla Center, Great Room A
The Catholic University of America
The 2014 United Nations Commission of Inquiry Report into North Korean Human Rights brought about a renewed focus on North Korean human rights. Behind the scenes, a growing network of transnational activists has been responsible for raising the profile of the North Korean human rights issue over a period of two decades. This conference turns the spotlight on these activists in an effort to understand the evolution of North Korean human rights discourse: the contentions, the hurdles and the assumptions underpinning it.
Conference Program
8:45-9:00 Welcome and Opening Remarks
9:15-10:30 SESSION I: States, Institutions, and the Making of North Korean Human Rights Discourse and Advocacy: the United States, European Union, and the United Nations
Chair:
Victor Cha, D.S. Song-Korea Foundation Chair in Government and International Affairs, (Georgetown University)
Panelists:
- Andrew Yeo (The Catholic University of America), “Bringing the State Back In: North Korean Human Rights Discourse in the United States.”
- James Burt (European Alliance for Human Rights), “A Continent of Forking Paths? Europe’s Responses to North Korean.”
- Patricia Goedde (Sungkyunkwan University), “Human Rights Diffusion in North Korea: The Impact of Transnational Legal Mobilization”
Discussant:
- Tsveta Petrova, Associate Research Fellow (Columbia University)
10:30-10:45 Coffee Break
10:45-12:00 SESSION II: North Korean Defectors, Activists, and the (Contentious) Rise of Transnational Networks
Chair:
Roberta Cohen, Committee on North Korean Human Rights, Nonresident Senior Fellow (Brookings Institution)
Panelists:
- Jiyoung Song (Lowy Institute for International Policy), “Discourses and Networks of North Korean Defector-Activists: A Complex Discourse Analysis”
- Joanna Hosaniak (Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights), “Activists’ Perspectives on North Korean Human Rights Discourse”
- Danielle Chubb (Deakin University): “Understanding North Korean human rights advocacy: network discourses and dynamics”
Discussant:
Jennifer Hadden, Assistant Professor (University of Maryland, College Park)
12:00-1:15 Lunch and Keynote Address
Stephen Haggard, Lawrence and Sallye Krause Professor of Korea-Pacific Studies (University of California, San-Diego)
1:30-2:45 SESSION III: NKHR Discourse on the Korean Peninsula and Asia: South Korea, North Korea, and Japan
Chair:
Katharine Moon, SK-Korea Foundation Chair in Korea Studies and Senior Fellow (Brookings Institution)
Panelists:
- Sandra Fahy (Sophia University), “North Korea with and Against the World: Analysis of DPRK Media Rhetoric after the Commission of Inquiry Report
- Jacob Riedhead (Stanford University), “North Korean Human Rights Discourse in South Korea.”
- Mikyoung Kim (Hiroshima Peace Institute), “North Korean Human Rights Discourse in Japan: Betwixt the Subtle and the Obvious.”
Discussant:
Celeste Arrington, Korea Foundation Assistant Professor (George Washington University)
3:00-3:15 Coffee Break
3:15-4:30 SESSION IV: The Evolution of NKHR Discourse and Advocacy and What it Means for Policy
- Greg Scarlatoiu, Executive Director (Committee for Human Rights in North Korea)
- Katharine Moon, Professor of Political Science and Wasserman Chair of Asian Studies/Non-resident Senior Fellow (Wellesley College/Brookings Institution)
- Marcus Noland, Executive Vice President and Director of Studies (Peterson Institute for International Economics)
- Frank Jannuzi, President and CEO (The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation)
- Amb. Robert R. King, special envoy for North Korean Human Rights (U.S. Department of State) [invited]
